Each of you has received a gift to use to serve others.
1 PETER 4:10
Over the years, as I have experienced crisis and watched others face personal ordeals, I have concluded that God, whom I know to be the author of unfathomable love and peace, is not the creator of trauma. When crisis happens, He understands our responses and feels what we experience. He chooses to respect our free will and interact with us—speaking love, challenge and hope through Scripture, events, and the faithful among us. He works like the disaster relief workers we see knocking on New Orleans residences. There is help if we open the door.
God’s goal? That we experience His presence and understand His character to the extent that we develop an unquenchable longing to know Him. That we embrace our challenges, trusting that is so doing we will grow in strength and character. That we will, over time, represent Him to those around us who need a heavenly touch. It’s an ambassadorship to be treasured and aspired.
Rarely can these things be experienced when life is easy. It is only when adversity presses us to challenge all that we know of God and ourselves that we will discover our potential as human beings and celebrate the spiritual comfort that faith offers.
It is my profound hope that former FEMA director Michael Brown has fleshed out these deep considerations and did not step away from his directorship only to slow the rightful criticisms made regarding his performance and agency responses to the Gulf Coast catastrophe. In all ways the events surrounding his rise in the FEMA organization and his swift fall have profound spiritual implications from which we can benefit.
Ultimately, it is a story deeper than his public embarrassment and dance with personal failure. And it should be noted that compassion is an appropriate response because these are difficult circumstances for Brown and his family. His experience illustrates a godly truth: God gives us gifts, but we often misplace and misuse these gifts. Too often people allow ego, financial gain, and notoriety to sidetrack the individualized plans God has for our lives. Our interference often courts failure.
Is Brown smart and well liked and appropriately educated? He has a resume to be proud of. As an attorney he has practiced law and served as a bar examiner on ethics and professional responsibility for the Oklahoma Supreme Court. He is an adjunct law professor. At one time he served as a special prosecutor in police disciplinary matters and as an assistant to a city manager with emergency services oversight responsibilities. He was a city councilman at one point. He understands public service.
He is also well connected and began believing the lie that once successful, always successful. Because few of us know him, it would be unfair to comment on his motivations. But there is one lesson from his experience that we can apply to our lives: God gives us gifts and asks us to judiciously use them in service to others. All too often people assume responsibility for things they should not be doing. In Brown’s case, leading federal disaster response and recovery operations— coordinating disaster activities with more than two dozen federal agencies, departments, and the American Red Cross—went well beyond his training and life experiences.
I believe Brown had moral and ethical obligations to challenge himself when the President asked him to take the post. After all, Brown’s decision-making and leadership abilities would dramatically touch the lives of Americans in disaster situations. People with honor will hypothetically place themselves in worst case scenarios and challenge themselves with tough questions. Such are the obligations of those asked to accept responsibilities that directly affect the lives and well being of others. The tough questions might include: Do I have the life experiences, training and qualifications to do this job well? Have I asked God’s blessing and clarification? Do my confidants and family members support me in doing this work? Are my motivations purified by love and deep commitment to the people around me?
To ask these questions we must be honest and self-reflective. This can be terribly difficult when flattered, challenged, and honored with a request. Imagine turning down such a career opportunity. It would take courage and boundary setting. People who make requests of us want a job to be done. It is our responsibility to be courageous and integrous in response.
Michael Brown should have done just that. So should we when opportunities come our way. Such a process begs another set of important questions: What on earth am I here for? What are my talents and gifts? Do I understand my limitations, knowing we cannot be everything to everyone? What has life prepared me to do? What does God want me to do?
Are you stressed and over scheduled? Are you having trouble sleeping? Are you ignoring important areas of your life that are important? Do you routinely procrastinate? Are some of your relationships suffering? Are you no longer scheduling time in worship or serving beside other church members? Are you self absorbed and unable to step away long enough to see there is more to life than your sphere?
God is calling us to reflect and learn.
